kings who are said to have reigned as follows: Sennacherib,
two years; Marduk-zâkir-shumu, one month; Merodach-baladan,
nine months. Berosus substitutes for Sennacherib one of his
brothers, whose name apparently he did not know; and this is
the version I have adopted, in agreement with most modern
historians, as best tallying with the evident lack of
affection for Babylon displayed by Sennacherib throughout
his reign.

The Babylonians were indignant at this slight. Accustomed to see their
foreign ruler conform to their national customs, take the hands of Bel,
and assume or receive from them a new throne-name, they could not resign
themselves to descend to the level of mere tributaries: in less than
two years they rebelled, assassinated the king who had been imposed upon
them, and proclaimed in his stead Marduk-zâkir-shumu,* who was merely
the son of a female slave (704 B.C.).

* The servile origin of this personage is indicated in
Pinches' Babylonian Canon; he might, however, be connected
through his father with a princely, or even a royal, family,
and thereby be in a position to win popular support. Among
modern Assyriologists, some suppose that the name Akises in
Berosus is a corruption of [Marduk-]zâkir[shumu]; others
consider Akises-Akishu as being the personal name of the
king, and Marduk-zâkir-shumu his throne-name.

This was the signal for a general insurrection in Chaldæa and the
eastern part of the empire. Merodach-baladan, who had remained in hiding
in the valleys on the Elamite frontier since his defeat in 709 B.C.,
suddenly issued forth with his adherents, and marched at once to